Cambodia- the more serious side

The other side of Cambodia is the one that is more serious and why we're really here and that is to help the people. We have been WAY busier here then we were in Vietnam as we don't have the same restrictions that the Vietnamese put on things. Pediatrics has been full just about everyday and we also had Operation Smile on board for about 5 days doing insane numbers of surgeries.

We have been able to make a big difference to some of the people here. One of the doctor's did a cleft lip repair on a gentleman who was in his 30's- that will be life changing for him. We have also been able to repair cataracts on a few children who will now be able to see the world around them and have a much better future.

I had a really great day at my medcap (medical civilian assistance program). I was once again paired up with the pediatricians and also had a nurse from the Cambodian Army to hang out with. We had a really great day and were able to see over 1100 people at the medcap- about 200 of which were kids. On my lunch break myself and another LDSC member taught some of the kids to play "freeze tag". I'm always amazed that kids are kids no matter what language they speak or where they're from. We eventually had to shut down for the day when the people waiting to be seen starting to get aggressive and it was no longer safe for us to be there. It was a shame because we could have seen a few hundred more but sometimes that's life around here.

There have also been the cases that we couldn't help. We had a little 18month old who came on board to have burn scar revision and once she arrived here we found out that she also has a severe heart defect- severe enough that it was unsafe to do her surgery and she had to be sent home. If we had a pediatric anesthesiologist we would have been able to do something but we don't. There is a little guy on board now who is one of a set of twins- his brother had surgery and he was along because Mom was here- and once on board we quickly noticed how small he is. Not even 12kg and he's 5 years old. So he got admitted and has been checked out. Turns out he has a blood disorder that were he in North America would be chronic but treatable and he'd have a fairly normal life. Here he probably won't make it to his 10th birthday. There was also a kid who came on board for abdominal pain that he's had for a year or so- but there was no doctor to see so this was his first chance to be assessed. He has cancer- multiple tumors in multiple sites that isn't treatable at this point- fortunately we were able to get him referred to a hospital in the capital that might be able to do some palliative radiation and at least keep him comfortable.

It's always the cases that we can't help that have stuck with me. We've helped so many kids and made such a difference but it's the one's that we have to send home with nothing that stay in my memory the most.

The chaplains here on board have a favorite story and it's the one about the kid walking down the beach covered in star fish that are drying out in the sun- dieing and the boy is picking them up one at a time and throwing them back into the ocean. A man comes along and says "what are you doing- there are millions of star fish on this beach- you can't save them all" and the kid picks up a star fish- tosses it into the sea and says "made a difference to that one".